Trust Asset Management LLC Sells 485 Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP)

Trust Asset Management LLC decreased its position in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,422 shares of the payment services company’s stock after selling 485 shares during the quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in American Express were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AXP. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in American Express by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in American Express by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 2,633 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. GHE LLC lifted its position in American Express by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 17,021 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $5,052,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its position in American Express by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,280 shares of the payment services company’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in American Express during the 4th quarter worth about $3,965,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Glenda G. Mcneal sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.50, for a total transaction of $15,475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,391,191.50. This represents a 82.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total value of $5,011,520.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,653,764.83. The trade was a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 134,219 shares of company stock valued at $40,555,901. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

American Express Stock Performance

Shares of AXP stock opened at $297.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $206.96 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $306.59 and a 200-day moving average of $290.45. American Express Company has a one year low of $220.43 and a one year high of $329.14.

American Express (NYSE:AXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a return on equity of 32.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $17.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.49 EPS. American Express’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that American Express Company will post 15.33 earnings per share for the current year.

American Express Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AXP has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of American Express in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of American Express from $260.00 to $342.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of American Express from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $270.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $311.05.

American Express Company Profile

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.